Compression knit fabrics are used, for example, to produce compression articles, like compression stockings or compression bandages. Such compression knit fabrics can be produced especially as circular knits on a circular knitting machine or recently also on flat knitting machines. The base knit in the compression knit fabrics known from the prior art is formed from at least one elastic or inelastic knitting yarn, and a compression-producing elastic weft yarn is inserted into the base knit in each second knit row. The elastic weft yarns can be an elastane or rubber yarn or a winding yarn with an elastic core yarn around which a yarn is wound.
Owing to the elasticity of the weft yarn, the tubular compression knit fabric formed as a circular knit acquires its compressive properties in the peripheral direction. When the tubular compression knit is positioned, for example, as a compression stocking on a leg of a patient, the compression knit generates a compression on the yarn through the elasticity of the elastic weft yarn. Other compression articles, like compression sleeves, are also known from the prior art for treatment of vein diseases and lymphatic insufficiencies.
If an elastane or rubber yarn is used as elastic weft yarn and, as is common in the known compression knits, is inserted as tuck and float between two consecutive stitching rows of the base knit, the elastic weft yarn comes to lie at the sites at which it appears to float on the surface of the compression knit. When the compression knit is positioned on a body part, the elastic weft yarn thus comes into contact with the skin of the patient. This can lead to skin irritation when there are incompatibilities of the patient relative to the material of the weft yarn. When a winding yarn is used as elastic weft yarn, in comparison with the knitting yarns of the base knit, this has a much greater thickness and the yarn that is wound around the elastic core yarn in the winding yarn exhibits high friction. Because of the thickness of the elastic weft yarn from a winding yarn and the high friction of the surface of the winding yarn, difficulties occur when a compression article produced from the compression knit fabric is put on, because strong friction of the surface of the elastic weft yarn against the skin of the patient occurs.
To solve this problem, a compression circular knit is proposed in DE 10 2015 110 313 A1, which consists of at least two different knit areas, in which a first knit area is laid out as a compressive knit area in the form of an ordinary compression knit from an elastic base knit yarn and a weft yarn inserted in it as tuck and float, and a second knit area is provided in which the elastic base knit yarn and the elastic compression-producing yarn are knit together, forming a loop. On the one hand, a supporting and compressive effect can be achieved with the second knit area, the attainable compression being determined by the elastic yarn joined with the base knit yarn to form a loop and is less high in the peripheral direction than in the ordinary compression knit of the first knit area. However, the compression-producing elastic yarn in the second knit area lies at least largely in the knitted fabric interior, since the compression-producing elastic yarn is joined via stitches in the base knit. As a result, a reduced contact of the compression-producing elastic yarn with the skin of a patient is guaranteed at least in the two knit areas, so that skin irritation is reduced, on the one hand, and putting on of the compression article is facilitated, on the other.
However, the compression circular knit proposed in DE 10 2015 110 313 A1 only leads to a reduction in contact between the compression-producing elastic yarn and the skin of a patient in areas and therefore is also only partially facilitative when a compression article produced from the compression knit fabric is put on.